MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry University's volleyball team lost to No. 28 Palm Beach Atlantic, 25-14, 25-16, 31-29, Friday in the home opener at Health & Sports Center.
Despite a furious third-set battle, with the faithful in red and black raucous and behind their beloved Buccaneers, Barry wasn't able to snap the Sailfish's now nine-match win streak. PBA (10-1) has won all 10 of their matches by three-set sweeps, but this one didn't come without a scare from the Bucs (4-3) in the decisive set.
Jayla Trombley's kill in the third set gave Barry a 16-13 lead. But Stephany Brown put away a ball to push the Sailfish ahead, 18-17, in a see-saw set that witnessed 13 lead changes. Tashalyn Begon's ace pushed the Buccaneers back on top, 21-19, before Faith Rohn's kill reclaimed control for the Sailfish nine serves later.
Ivana Didanovic's kill pushed the Bucs to set point, 28-27, but the Sailfish staved off termination again, winning four of the next five points to seal the victory.
The Buccaneers, which were caught off guard in the opening two sets after hitting -.033 in the first and never leading, overcame a 21-kill third-set performance by the Sailfish to nearly snap their streak. The Bucs used 12 kills and 11 PBA errors in the final set to nearly do it.
Rohn had 17 kills and 11 digs for the Sailfish. Becca Acevedo had 39 assists.
Trombley had seven kills, 11 digs and an ace, while hitting .261. Didanovic had six kills and a .312 attack percentage. Laine Cielena had eight of the Buccaneers' 28 kills.
Both teams committed 18 attack errors. Barry was outblocked for the fifth time this year, losing the battle at the net in this one, 6-4. PBA had six aces to Barry's two.
The Buccaneers will host the Alumni Match at 4 p.m. Saturday.